Sunday, 30 October 2011

Considered to be one of the three most historically significant Colonial buildings in the United States, the Old Exchange Building is a "must see" when visiting Charleston.

During Charles Town's Golden Age in the 1760's and 1770's, when the city was the most prosperous port in the south, the British built the Palladin style Exchange and Customs House. In 1774, Josiah Quincy of Boston wrote of his arrival: "..the new Exchange which fronst the place of my landing made a most notable appearance."

Hidden beneath the Old Exchange was quite possibly one of the worst prisons in U.S. history. Known to the good citizens of Charleston as the Provost Dungeon, the conditions were in the least unsavoury, unforgiving, and not meant for human life.

The Provost Dungeon is supposedly haunted. Many people hear crying and moaning, and many also witness chains and lights swinging back and forth by themselves for no reason. With the horrible conditions the prisoners were forced to live in, it would make sense that the place could be haunted.

The Exchange and Customs House was the commercial, political and social center of Charles Town and the site of many historical gatherings instrumental in leading to the nation's independence

Here is a full report from those that work there who have shared their experiences of the paranormal.

Here is a video from a security camera purportedly shot inside the Dillinger Museum at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond, Indiana.

The faint apparition appears just in front of a writing bureau.
Viewers believe this to be John Dillinger himself, a criminal who was shot dead by the FBI in 1934.

John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American bank robber in Depression-era United States. He was charged with, but never convicted of, the murder of an East Chicago police officer during a shoot-out. This was his only alleged homicide. His gang robbed two dozen banks and four police stations. Dillinger escaped from jail twice.

On July 22, the police and Division of Investigation closed in on the Biograph Theater, Chicago. Federal agents, led by Melvin Purvis, moved to arrest him as he left the theater. He pulled a weapon and attempted to flee but was shot three times and killed.

WITH North pubs facing difficult times most landlords would be pretty pleased if scores of extra visitors traipsed up to their bars.

But for Bill Bell, of Chamber’s Bar in Morpeth, Northumberland, the problem may be that his “guests” may never leave.

Since taking charge of the Bridge Street boozer in June the 64-year-old has seen his staff spooked by a succession of ghoulish goings-on.

Things came to a head when a barmaid refused to change a beer barrel after seeing a ghostly figure in the cellar and paranormal investigators were called in.

The “experts” now say the pub, which may date as far back at the 13th century is “one of the most active” spook sites they’ve ever seen with apparitions running through walls, and voices chanting and arguing in the ladies loos.

Paranormal investigator Neil Osborne, 52, a member of the Soul Searchers North East group, said he has now visited the pub 10 times in three months and seen something supernatural every time.

“The first time we switched the cameras on in the corridor we got four monks coming through the wall,” said Neil, who has been ghost hunting for 36 years.

“We put the camera at the other end of the passage and caught a procession coming through. We sat and counted out 37 figures. Some looked like children.

“We really didn’t expect that. I don’t think there has been anything like this since the Centurians at York.”

Former construction manager Bill, who used to run the Prince of Wales in Blyth and the Bank Top in Bedlington, both Northumberland, said after three months of sleeping with the lights on, he had become used to the sense of unease.

He said: “Trust me to pick a haunted pub. I was a sceptic but since I’ve been here it’s changed my mind.

“I’ve had an experience where it’s felt like someone has been sitting on the bed, holding me by the ankles.”

But Bill and his customers remain in high spirits and are set for a monk-themed party night and further paranormal investigations tomorrow for Halloween.

This report naturally intrigued me on many levels.Whilst I do not discount that this building is haunted, I have some reservations with regard to the claims on some of the manifestations.

Neil Osbourne - of Soul Searchers North East group says, “The first time we switched the cameras on in the corridor we got four monks coming through the wall. We put the camera at the other end of the passage and caught a procession coming through. We sat and counted out 37 figures. Some looked like children. We really didn’t expect that. I don’t think there has been anything like this since the Centurians at York.”

As an investigator and film maker myself, I wanted to see this footage as it appears on face value alone to be possibly the greatest capture of paranormal activity in the history of ghost hunting!

Whilst I could not track down this footage - nor indeed any photographic stills representing this claim, I did find a video clip put on Youtube by a lady called Fiona Bell which allegedly shows a `ghostly monk` manifestation moving from the right along a corridor.

The film is very choppy and has somebody screaming (unconvincingly) hysterically in the background. The `ghost` looks to me to be the outline of someone wearing a zip up trainer suit top with the zip pulled down. And nothing that remotely looks monastic.

On the basis of this, I am highly sceptical and dubious of any claims pertaining to the monk`s manifestation.If I had what is claimed by Mr Osbourne, the video would have gone viral on the internet. If on the other hand it looks like the referenced link above, I can understand why it has not.However, you can as always draw your own conclusions.

Here is a report on an area known as `Gravity Hill` in York County, Pennsylvania, USA.There are a number of this `gravity defying` locations scattered around the country, and each, they seem, have a legend of haunting attached to the phenomenon.They have all been debunked scientifically as an optical illusion.Read the report and see the video. It really does look like cars travel up-hill!

York, PA - Around the bends of rural Wyndamere Road, just beyond the graves of Tri-County Memorial Gardens, there's an intersection in Fairview Township where mounds of earth and trees rising from the shoulders keep a legend alive.
Masquerading as any other York County hill, Pleasant View Road seems to defy the laws of physics.
Down is up -- or so it seems -- at the stop sign where drivers can shift their vehicles into neutral and quickly realize the gravity of the situation.
Cars roll up -- yes, up -- the incline.
Is it a magnet? An illusion? Paranormal activity?
That all depends on what you believe.

Some locals claim it was a group of teenagers, "football players, perhaps coming from a game at Red Land High School just up the road," that died instantly when a truck t-boned their car at that intersection, according to York Hospital Dr. Leo Motter, the author of "Haunted Places in York County Pennsylvania."
The ghosts of those young lives cut short -- an incident of which Motter could find no records -- are said to be behind the phenomena.
"These kids somehow try to protect people from this dangerous intersection," he said. "They push the cars away to save people."
Spreading powder over one's car hood allegedly reveals phantom fingerprints.
Similar sites exist around the country, mostly asserting the same story of haunted heroism -- someone killed in an automobile accident returns from the grave to spare passing motorists from a similar grisly fate.
Many, like one in Bedford County, have become tourist attractions, garnering more attention than York County's secluded wonder -- an unmarked pilgrimage destination for the occasional thrillseeking teenager or local resident trying to frighten a friend.
Fairview Township Police Chief Bernard Dugan hopes it stays that way. Hanging out on a public street isn't advised.
"Are people still doing that?" he asked.
Dugan first heard the legend 20 years ago. He hasn't tested the theory himself.
"I don't think we really ever did catch a boatload of people out there, quite frankly," he said. "We just hear about it from time-to-time."
Danielle Gross, 30, of Fairview Township, still remembers her visit to the supposedly supernatural slope.
Four years ago, on an early summer evening, she was returning home from scuba lessons at Red Land High School with her now-husband and his parents. They told her the story of ghost children, victims of an ill-fated bus journey, known to push cars up Pleasant View Road.
"Not that anyone believed it, but I guess it makes a good story," she said.
"I'm sure that when I have kids someday, we'll show them, too. Freak them out around Halloween."
Perhaps a physics lesson, too, might be useful. Things do not roll uphill, said professor Sardari Khanna.
This hill is an optical illusion, he said, explained by the principle of "gravity paradox," the idea that different objects with mass centered in different areas have infinite gravitational capabilities.
Also, he said, and the combinations of angular terrain in the area could produce the illusion that a slight downhill slope is actually uphill.
On Friday, in his science lab at York College, a wooden cylinder rolled easily down two v-shaped wooden bars propped into a slope.
"Watch the magic," he said, placing a wooden prism -- two cones base-to-base -- at the bottom of the same configuration.
Though it appears to roll upward, its axis, or center of mass, is actually getting lower -- like your car might be on Pleasant View Road.
"It has to be," Khanna said. "There's no question about that."
Source: York Daily Record

While some seek out ghosts during the Halloween season, volunteers at the Little Theatre off Broadway claim to see their share of paranormal activity year-round.

The theatre is home to a ghost, and a friendly one at that.
Longtime theatre volunteer Joy Schmitt said she makes a habit of greeting the resident spirit upon entering the building each day.

“I never have any trouble with Ethel,” Schmitt said.

The story around the theatre is that the theatre’s ghost is the spirit of Ethel King, a young woman who played piano accompaniment to silent pictures when the building was known as The Kingdom Theatre in the 1920s.

King was partially blind, and her mother instructed her to either speed up or slow down her playing according to the plot development. The story goes that the theatre was built for Ethel. After she married, Ethel moved away from Grove City.
“She never came back,” Schmitt said.

Though some stories of Ethel sightings do have merit, Schmitt said, “you also have to sometimes take it with a grain of salt.” Some people let their imaginations get away from them, she said.
Still, certain things have happened around the theatre that can’t be explained.

Schmitt’s husband, Jim, serves as treasurer for the theatre and also assists with maintenance and set-building.
Jim Schmitt was at the theatre for a business meeting once when he and the others heard the back door suddenly slam.
“It wasn’t lightly, it was loud,” he said.

They thought it might have been a vagrant, but the door was locked from the inside, Jim Schmitt said.
Ethel’s story brought the Central Ohio Paranormal Society to the theatre two or three years ago. The group reported noises and energy fields in the building.

Kathy Hyland, a theatre volunteer since 1994, said she frequently hears footsteps going up the stairs. When the volunteers are having a particularly late night at the theatre, they often find the door propped open with a dead bolt.
“She lets us know when it’s time to go home,” Hyland said of Ethel.

Once, frustrated in her search for a costume for a “Little Women” character, Hyland asked Ethel for help.
She got it. Upon returning to look for a costume, Hyland found “this incredibly gorgeous dress” on a hanger.
“There is no way I could’ve missed that,” she said.

But perhaps the most dramatic experience for Hyland was when she got the opportunity to see Ethel for herself.

As a stage manager for “Evita,” Hyland caught a glimpse of someone’s shoe going up the stairs to the stage. The body was blocked by the curtain. Hyland checked behind the curtain, but found no one. Though the shoe she saw matched those that her female actors were wearing, Hyland accounted for all the female cast members.

“I had never seen her,” Hyland said. “I think I was mostly in shock.”

Joy and Jim Schmitt are longtime volunteers at the Little Theatre off Broadway. They said they have seen and heard strange things at the theater. They say they believe one of the causes of the strange occurrences could be the ghost of Ethel, who had played the piano at the theater back in the days of silent movies.
Source: ThisWeek Community Newspapers

A "wine snob" ghost is lurking in the cellar of a pub making its feelings known about the house wine, it has been claimed.
The ghost, named Corky by regulars at the Court Oak pub in Harborne, Birmingham, apparently has very strong opinions about the wine list.
The pub, part of the Sizzling chain, is built on the site of a 17th century hanging ground, sparking speculation that Corky may be the ghost of someone who died there years ago.
Pub manager Anne Tyler said the ghost had given its opinion about the wine on offer every Halloween for the last few years.
She said smashed bottles of red and white house wine were discovered in the cellar until the selection was upgraded.
Nuala Gallagher, of Sizzling Pubs, said: "It isn't so much things that go bump in the night as things going smash in the night at the Court Oak.
"People have spotted the figure of a man, aged about 60, behind the bar and the staff have felt his presence numerous times over the years.
"But it is Corky's insistence on certain wines that set him apart as a spirit.
"It only ever happens at this time of year when Halloween is in sight. If the pub has a house wine that is not to his liking, he makes his feelings known by smashing bottle after bottle of it in the cellar until it is changed for a wine he approves of.
"He's a bit of a wine snob, which is why he's been named Corky by customers."
Source: MSN

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Here is a ghost story based on a real life investigation some years ago in Lancashire.
The events which took place were very real, and this has to be the most spiritually active investigation I have ever been involved with!
I hope you enjoy my tale ....

The screening last night of `Cathnafola` at the IFI `Horrorthon` went exceedingly well with almost a ticket sell-out!
Audience reaction was very positive, and overall it was a really good show.
That`s a very good result on a previously unseen movie:)
Both Jason Figgis and myself are very pleased with this collaborative effort, and the finished screen product looks simply fantastic!
Many thanks to those that bought a ticket and attended.

If this is genuine and meaningful research, then much could be learnt and shared.

However, I also harbour some reservations with regard to research by some academia who have a tendency to profligate a biased viewpoint of paranormal activity, and end up marginalising themselves by offering an opinion rather than any hard or absolute facts.

Paranormal activity is often sporadic and difficult to measure at the best of times.

Academics prefer to have a measuring stick on any type of research, and the paranormal has no rules by which events can beempirically assessed.

So the real danger is that this type of research devolves to an opinion, and with all good academic experts, they try to attribute peoples experiences to that of say, Electro Magnetic Fields, (EMF`s) affecting the brain or even natural gasses imparted from the ground!

RESEARCH is being carried out into why people believe they have paranormal experiences at Muncaster Castle.

A machine capable of monitoring the human body 400,000 times a second will feature in the series of studies being carried out at the castle over the coming months.
The machine measures emotional responses and has the capacity to assess how people respond to frightening environments.
Dr Jason Braithwaite, lecturer in the Behavioural Brain Sciences Centre at the University of Birmingham, plans to use the device to monitor the physical reactions people have to parts of the castle that are thought to be haunted, and compare the results with readings from the same person in other parts of the castle that are not associated with ghosts.
The volunteer test subject would not know which part of the castle they were in.
Dr Braithwaite said: “The device is the most sensitive device of its type in the world and I am really excited about being able to use it at Muncaster over the coming months. We want to know what makes certain spaces feel haunted and spooky while other spaces feel completely fine. We also want to know if rooms and spaces associated with such experiences just happen to contain those features and, as such, might help to explain some of these experiences.”
In the past about 30 per cent of people taking part in Dr Braithwaite’s scientific studies at the castle have reported experiencing things they could not explain, such as “corner of the eye” type sensations, feelings of being watched or sensing a presence, and hearing unexplained sounds such as footsteps, ringing/tingling sensations, door handle rattles and faint voices.
Muncaster is reputed to be one of the most haunted castles in the country. Most of the reported ghost sightings have taken place in the Tapestry Room.
A black, featureless figure has reportedly been seen walking into the room before vanishing.
It is said a child is frequently heard crying towards the window end of the room and that sometimes a lady is heard singing, apparently comforting a sick child.
Study findings are expected to be published in international peer-reviewed academic journals.

Friday, 28 October 2011

There is a part of the USA that seems to have the highest concentration of paranormal reports - perhaps more so than anywhere else in North America. It is known as `The Bridgewater Triangle`, and is located in an area of about 200 square miles (520 km2) within south-eastern Massachusetts.

Apparently reports ranging from UFO's to poltergeists and orbs, balls of fire and other spectral phenomena, various "bigfoot" sightings, giant snakes and "thunderbirds", as well as the mutilation of cattle and other livestock have been received by the authorities.

The TV news channel NECN web have recently investigated the legends associated with this weird area, and here is the video report to view:

And here is a public address given on the background of the legends by Chris Balzano
who is the author of several books about regional hauntings.

I discovered this video on LiveLeak that shows what appears to be an apparition appearing to the far left of the screen.

There is no further information as to the location and circumstances of the capture, nor indeed in what country it was filmed! It was probably the USA by the speakers accent on cam, but no other details are shared by the poster.
If genuine, it looks a really great capture.

Thursday, 27 October 2011

As promised, I returned to the haunted flight offices formerly used during WW2 by the U.S Airforce and the R.A.F.

This time in company with team members Deanne Romans and Sean Kim we explored the building in the dead of night to see whether we could elicit more activity than my earlier day visit.

We wasn`t at all disappointed as we explored the many disused offices, with some still bearing the names of those officers who served there.

As last time there were unaccounted knocks and bangs so typical of this location and a pervasive sense of ill will and irrational fear that none of us could reconcile with.

The sense of intimidation was everywhere

Despite all the years of investigating the paranormal, this building has a sense of intimidation that shakes the most hardened and determined investigator.

The most striking visible anomaly greeted us earlier in the investigation in the form of a snake like entity that moved quickly up a corridor wall and of course at times there were orbs present in odd locations and not in every room.

It seemed apparent to all of us that despite the feeling of negativity, they seemed at times to be playing games with us. What with the door bangs, there was one occasion when a voice said `orb` quite unexpectedly as all three of us stood in the open corridor.

Sean - Contacted from beyond?

But the most weirdest event occurred when just prior to leaving Sean audibly heard a voice which on examination said, `How is Sean?`

The speaker had an American accent, and Sean`s male side of the family are American.

Sean has listened to the e.v.p and cannot identify the voice, but as he points out there are uncles in spirit that he hasn`t seen for years, and of course his own grand-father, so he feels it highly probable it may well be connected to them and is making enquiries to identify the speaker.

And if all that we experienced wasn`t enough for one evening, we received a parting gesture in a voice that spoke to us as we departed the building.

Deanne - felt uncomfortable

As an investigation this was beyond any doubt a most memorable occasion and we hope you will enjoy this special for Halloween by `liking` on Youtube and on this blog.

We have new investigations coming up soon, and the possibility of investigating a private home with a very active and unpleasant poltergeist.

Happy Halloween from all of us here at Haunted Earth TV!

And for those that may have missed it, here is the original daylight visit:

The below news article reminded me of the report of the Stocksbridge bypass ghosts on the excellent and now sadly missed, `Strange But True` TV series.

The video from this show is shared courtesy of `GhostWatching` on Youtube.

There have certainly been a number of reports of fatal accidents and ghostly sightings on this road, and the `ghostly` not being in the response from South Yorkshire Police who claim statistically that the road has no higher or lower death rates than any other road.

I`ve carried out some research on sightings in this location and here is a piece written by someone who claims this personal experience.

"I was riding my motorcycle just out side of Stocksbridge some years ago.
It was about 3am and very cold,as I rode along the road,I saw what looked like a women walking in the verge coming towards me.
When she got close I slowed down,she seemed to be wearing a long white gown,and she was looking at the floor as she walked.
Her hair looked long and white but I couldn't see any facial features, I rode past her and looked back over my shoulder,there wasn't anyone there when I looked back".

And here is an update on the two security guards subject of the film report on the TV program.This makes interesting reading with regard to one who found religion afterwards ..

"This is the definitive story of the security guards and the ghost. Two security guards employed by Constant security of Mexborough were working patrolling the road which was still being constructed. About a mile on the Tankersley side of Peayroyd Lane bridge they saw a group of children in medieval costume dancing round a bush.

Shocked they carried on in silence for some distance finally stopping near to Pearoyd Bridge.
When they attempted to leave the vehicle a large inhuman presence held the driver and then the passenger side door closed. The presence behaved in a threatening way then vanished.

Both men panicked and went to the local vicarage in a state of terror, they were then sent to the Police station eventually returning to their office in Mexborough where they were sent home.12 hours later they were interviewed by their employer who stated that in his opinion they were "traumatized".

Neither man has worked again, one lives in Barnsley with his family and is under constant medical supervision. the other, affected even more badly lives in a Roman Catholic seminary in Montreal (Canada) where, within the last few years he has received visits from clergymen of the Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish religions and where in 1994 he was visited by the Muslim grand mufti of Jerusalem.

I worked with these men and new them well, I have never seen a ghost nor do I particularly believe in them, however what happened was far from funny and has ruined the lives of to decent ordinary working men".

However, I digress. Hope you enjoy the news report and of course, the clips from `Strange But True`.

`THE background: It had long been known as the Haunted Road before TV ghost expert Richard Jones investigated.

But what the Most Haunted Live presenter found terrified him so much he labelled the Stocksbridge Bypass one of the scariest places in the UK.

During his investigations of the A616 thoroughfare last year, he said it’s history was so ghastly it could only be the work of the paranormal.

But - wait, before you dismiss him as a self-serving charlatan - there might be something in what he says.
Back in 1987, after all, this very newspaper reported how, before the road opened, two Ecclesfield police officers Dick Ellis and John Beet spied a robed torso near to Pearoyd Bridge.

“I got a brief sighting of it next to the car and then something banged on the vehicle,” PC Ellis told our man. “It was unnerving. There was definitely something supernatural.”

Since then several accidents have been blamed on apparitions - by ghost writers, if not necessarily by police. One explanation for the so-called haunting is that a mediaeval monk haunts the area.

The rationale: South Yorkshire Police say the number of deaths and accidents on the bypass makes it no more dangerous than any other road in the area`.

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Here is a video of an alien-shaped figure in Brazil that has been described as the "best proof we have" that we're being visited by aliens.
So far, all such videos - mostly from Russia or South America have been either proved fake, or a falsely described event.
The background story is that this was taken by British tourists and handed over to American secret agents.
My view? When you start mentioning secret agents the story becomes even more suspect.
And particularly as the announcer is an actor due to appear in a movie about South American UFO`s!!

I`ve been working solidly to getting the new Halloween Special investigation ready for release on Friday.

It`s entitled, `Ghosts of the Haunted Airfield`, and is one of the creepiest investigations to date with a lot of activity and an acute weirdness about the place that will send shivers down any viewers spine.

Normal `blogging` will resume once the video is finished.

Lastly, just a final reminder from my friend and colleague Jason Figgis.

`For those interested in supporting our World premiere of the paranormal investigation documentary 'Cathnafola' this Friday 28th at 11.15pm please click on the following link below to book`.

Monday, 24 October 2011

Here is a `teaser` clip for our forthcoming Halloween night investigation in the former flight offices of a WW2 RAF/USAAF airfield.

The location was recently visited during the daytime by me, Chris Halton and although I am normally quite cool about such investigations the flight offices proved to be one step too far and I was forced to abandon the visit due to some heavy and very oppressive activity.

Our return proved no different, and we were able to capture a great deal of very powerful activity to camcorder.

This full investigation will include more door slamming, lots of EVP and other very weird events that will chill you to the bone!

In this clip you`ll see a faint `snake like` anomaly move quickly up a wall, and Sean is addressed by an American man.

Who the man is in relation to Sean hasn`t been researched yet, but it`s interesting to note that Sean is of 50% American extraction.
Could the voice be a relative in spirit, or were they playing with us?

The finale of this great night investigation occurred upon leaving, a very menacing voice actually spoke to us as we passed through the door.So make Friday night your Halloween night at home with this great production!

Saturday, 22 October 2011

Tonight Haunted Earth film a full investigation for Halloween.
Any good pictures, etc will be shared of the visit.
The video of the investigation will be released on Friday October 28th 2011.
This promises to be a great investigation!:)

UPDATE

Really superb investigation and very creepy in an insidious kind of way.
Some class `A` EVP and a fantastic `snake` anomaly that crept up the wall of the building. Will prepare a couple of clips later in the day. The very best was the very last event that happened as we left. `They` spoke to us as we were leaving!!
This will be a great Halloween investigation for you to see next Friday!
Stay tuned .....

FRESH UPDATE .......

I`ve been editing the new investigation for you to see next Friday:)
The first edit is finished, just needs to be trimmed and narrated.
Even more activity than I first thought - weird EVP and very strange anomalous occurences.
This is going to be a real `creep night special` for Halloween, and later I will share two clips and photographs. I don`t know what`s on the stills, as I haven`t found the time to check them yet:)

Fell's Point, Maryland is the original deep water seaport in Baltimore and became incorporated into the city in 1773. Being a seaport, it attracted many immigrants as well as sailors who took their liberties there. Presently, there are many shops and pubs that line the streets of Fell's Point, which makes it a wonderful destination to get away and have fun.

Back in the day, the area was a rough neighborhood consisting of shipyards, warehouses, brothels and saloons. The lifestyle of a merchant seaman back then was less than sanitary and, shall we say, unsafe and lacking in culture and refinement, to put it politely. Therefore, the Mission Women's Auxiliary built The Anchorage, which was to be a boarding house for these fellows. It was intended as a home away from home with a Christian influence, to create a safe haven in the port. Later, the YMCA continued the tradition until 1955 when The Anchorage began to be occupied by a series of tenants and eventually fell into disrepair.

It was in 1985 that The Anchorage buildings were renovated and reimmerged as the Admiral Fell Inn. This haunted hotel in Baltimore is now a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, one of the Historic Hotels of America.

This haunted hotel in Baltimore is a European style hotel that has been described as more like the home of a well-to-do resident, than a commercial establishment. Guests are greeted by ghost story tellers and ghost tours are available. There is dining on the property, as well as a breakfast nook, pub and ballroom. Even pets are welcome at this haunted hotel in Baltimore.

Some of the reputed ghost sightings:

One legend speaks of a scientist who saw the apparition of a nurse walk through his wall after being awakened by the creaking of his room's floorboards. He was staying in Room 218.

One of the housekeeping staff reported being touched and feeling coldspots on different occasions while working in room 413. She said it felt as though a slight breeze was blowing against her face or arms, like someone had walked close by her. She also reported feeling as though someone had put their hand on her shoulder.

Friday, 21 October 2011

Here is another report on an alleged ghost captured as a reflection on a grand piano.Huff Post are not 100%, but believe the ghost may well be photo shopped.Read for yourself and then decide.

The Queen Mary in her day

Is that a ghostly face to the right?

Any bartender worth their margarita salt is going to draw regulars, but at least one of Leslie Schirmacher's regulars isn't your regular kind of regular.

Nope, he's a ghost. And his name is Bruce. Oh, and, according to her, he looks like a Scottish version of actor Kevin Spacey.

For 25 years, Schirmacher, 58, has been bartending at the Queen Mary, a retired ocean liner that was turned into a hotel in Long Beach, Calif.

The Queen Mary has long been considered one of the most haunted places in America, but Schirmacher didn't start palling around with apparitions until three-and-a-half years ago when a customer pointed one out to her.

"She was an older woman who asked me if I had ever had any experiences with ghosts," Schirmacher told to HuffPost Weird News. "I said, 'No,' and she said, 'I see dead people and there's one right next to you.' So I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek."

The `ghost face`

To say Bruce was smitten was an understatement. Schirmacher claims he's been hanging out at her bar, the Starboard Lounge, ever since. However, she's played a little hard to get at times.

"When I kissed him, he was on the barstool, and I told the woman, 'I don't want my ghost to be short," so he stood up and turned out to be around 6-foot-1," she laughed. "The woman told me he thought I looked like a past love of his."

As much as she can tell, the ghost's name is Bruce Brandon, and he supposedly hails from Aberdeen, Scotland. However, all the research she and others have done to find out if he ever really existed haven't turned up anything.

"I never could find out anything about him," she shrugged. "But there's this picture some friends from England took of me where you can see his face on top of the piano smoking a cigar."

To be fair, Schirmacher makes no claims to be a paranormal expert or an expert on photography and is only claiming what she perceives. However, photography experts at The Huffington Post who've analyzed the photo believe the purported ghostly image looks as if it's most likely been photoshopped or manipulated in some capacity, although a preliminary investigation was unable to make that conclusion.

Meanwhile, Schirmacher remains convinced that she has her own personal ghost hanging out with her at the Starboard Lounge. It's hard for Schirmacher to tell if he's at the bar through conventional means, so she uses a crystal pendulum and holds it and asks if there are ghosts in the room.

"It moves in a circle," she said. "If it goes to the right, it means he's in the room; left means he's not," she said.

Schirmacher believes Bruce is there to safeguard her, but he's also a bit of a prankster.

"I was told [by the woman who first noticed him] that he was here to protect me, and I do feel like someone is watching me," she said. "However, there are times when he plays tricks such as moving the glasses off the wine case."

Erika Frost, an alleged psychic medium who hosts weekly paranormal tours on the Queen Mary, says that while ghosts are common on the ship, it is not common for someone to have one of their own.

"This is definitely one of the most haunted places in the world," she told HuffPost Weird News. "There may be hundreds of ghosts here, but it's unusual for one to only connect with a single person."

Frost admits she's never had an encounter with Bruce and speculates that his connection with Schirmacher goes beyond time and space.

"It could be a soul connection, such as past lives," Frost said. "For that reason, he only connects with her."

Luckily for Schirmacher, Frost says her ghostly bar patron is more polite than some of the other spooks who run amuck on the ship, which has been used both as a cruise ship and to transport soldiers across the ocean during World War II.

"Some of the workers in the boiler room could be pretty wild," Frost said. "I know some women who say they've been goosed by ghosts while touring the ship."

Schirmacher says her ghost is a complete gentleman and hopes her story helps others who may be dealing with their own personal ghosts.

"If anyone asks me advice on how to deal with their own ghost, I say, 'Embrace it. It's there to help you,'" she advised.
Source: Huffington Post

Found this interesting picture which claims a ghost on camera during an investigation by East Coast Trackers at Fort Knox in Maine.

The explanation by ECGT refers to a figure on the extreme left with four others to the right of it.

I additionally see a light anomaly to the far right.

However, I`ll leave it for you to judge.

Click image to enlarge picture

Prospect Maine - A spooky sighting at Fort Knox just in time for Halloween.This photo was snapped by the East Coast Ghost Trackers at the Fort last week.If you look closely, you might be able to make out what some say is a cloaked man to the left and four other ghost-like figures to the right.No worries though, East Coast Ghost Trackers say all the other worldly individuals they've come across at the Fort seem to be friendly.

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

The paranormal is without parallel in it`s ambiguity of understanding.
To see, feel, smell or hear something that at first seems weird and beyond reasonable comprehension soon combats against the `rational` in the mind of the participant.

After all, even to a believer it is often very difficult to saturate something to memory like a solid object appearing to pass through solid mass because the human brain measures everything it experiences upon previous events recorded to memory and attempts to filter or deny anything outside of that.

It sometimes happens to me and no doubt many others too if they could accept the open admissibility of their own experiences. How many times have we thought, "Did I really see that?"

To the serious observer it is something that boosts mental adrenalin, it fires the senses and inspires us in our belief that all we experience in life cannot always be easily understood or explained.

To the thrill seeker, the experience extracts a rush of energy in the fear it evokes as the brain attempts to shield itself against something it cannot grasp or comprehend. But unlike the positive effects of adrenalin to the serious observer, it instead heightens a terrible fear and a terror that causes them to run or scream.

To the `scientifically` minded sceptic, the paranormal is a blend of the former experiences, as it excites in the sheer wonderment of the event, but quickly pales to a misapprehension that it can be explained by scientific means and can therefore can be denied.

Sadly to some, denial to some is a cosy protective element that allows them perhaps to sleep more soundly in the dark, and the term `scientific` becomes merely a label to mask their own fears or prejudices.

Here is an image of a RAF ghostly serviceman that haunts a former RAF base.

In a literal translation of the word it means "a method of procedure that has characterised natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses".

A more less elevated modern definition relates to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.

To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning.

A skull like face in a cemetery

And here lies the real issue. By definition, a paranormal event is something beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation. Therefore anything beyond the range of `normality` cannot be explained by scientific means.

You cannot measure or quantify paranormal events to a scientific standard because the yardstick by which science can measure or evaluate these events just simply isn`t there.

And so the `scientifically minded` sceptic has to resort to a number of argumentative ploys to suppress or deny any incident they experience, or better still for them events experienced by others. And so `scientific analysis` becomes opinion, and of course opinion becomes confused as `fact`.

I and many others know that the paranormal is not a wild imagination.
Much has been recorded which offers serious contention to what is currently accepted in the laws of physics.

Fortunately, the laws of physics are not a closed book. Each year a little more of our understanding of this world and the universe changes - albeit very slowly.

A misty figure of a man at a former WW2 base

And the real truth is that empirically, I can no more prove the paranormal and conversely neither can science disprove it.

The laws of physics could evolve much faster if humanity puts aside, bigotry, prejudice and a stubborn blindness to events that really do need further exploration and analysis.

There is so much within this world that seemingly is invisible to many, but the distance between us and new horizons of understanding is a million times less than the thickness of a cigarette paper, but for many it will always remain a million times further away.

My hope for 2012 will be a greater openness from many more of us to the new frontiers that are yet to be explored, and less emphasis on allowing stupidity and hidebound irrationality to muddy those crystal waters of knowledge and usher instead a new era of understanding.

This video story relates to an apparent apparition seen in the upstairs window of an empty apartment.Here is the posters explanation:

`During a routine photo shoot this camera picks up awhite figure moving in an upstairs window.Residents on the ground floor for the interview maintain that the house was empty.The film crew thought it was simply a reflection at first,but then noticed the reflection of the flag in the for ground,so what is the white figure.A prank a trick of the light,or a spectral former resident of the apartment complex`. Source: Disclose TV

I personally feel although any claimed paranormal event is worth sharing, the story lacks the absolute certainty that the said apartment was empty, and if it was, the imagery is some distance away from the camera making any positive identification difficult. But as always I`ll leave that to you to decide.

An unusual phenomenom regularly repeats itself in the Brackaville area of Coalisland in County Tyrone.

It`s not the sight of a ghost, but the multitudes of thrill seekers attracted to the location by alleged ghostly sightings at an abandoned cottage of `an old woman with a white dress and a long white cape down her back` according to one regular visitor who claims to have seen this apparition six times. Also `mysterious lights` appear and disappear inside.

The abandoned cottage

In fact so many people have turned up at night to catch sight of this ghost that traffic jams and parking obstructions have a more regular frequency than of anything spooky.

The story drew the attention of the Guardian newspaper who sent over a film crew to make a short documentary with regulars at the scene who in the main have never seen or heard the spectral apparition that others have claimed to experience.

According to a local paranormal group the ghostly legend actually relates to a phantom female hitchhiker, but like all alleged sightings they like anyone it seems are open to anything new reported.

In January 2009 more fuel was added to the ghostly reports when a videographer looking for the ghost allegedly captured a misty shape emerging between parked cars of the many ghost hunters who had arrived there.
The video of that event is below:

As a professional investigator and film maker of paranormal events I doubt very much whether the journey there will be worthwhile for anyone as experience has taught me that the less people that are present the greater the opportunity of capturing anything meaningful.

Whether this is a ghost or not is irrelevant as the legends attached to this area will probably guarantee another huge turn out this coming Halloween.

This footage was captured in the chapel area of Woodchester Mansion in Gloucestershire, England in October 2005 by a locked off CCTV camera owned by the Gloucestershire Paranormal Research Group. Notice that whatever it is, it starts as a small ball of light on the concrete floor. We have since tried to recreate this but to no avail.

Even on a bright sunny day there's no doubt that Woodchester Mansion certainly looks like the classic haunted house, with its gothic architecture. This huge stone building stands ominously, its dark windows looking out across Woodchester Park. Woodchester Mansion replaced a Georgian country house called Spring Park, which was built at the beginning of the 17th Century and named because of the many springs in the valley. The estate has much earlier origins wich evidence of occupation dating back to pre Roman times.
The building itself was commission by William Leigh a freemason he had bought the previous building Spring Park and decided to demolish it and build Woodchester Mansion over its foundations. Williams cash ran out before the building was finished and died in 1873. It remained in the Leigh family until 1938 until the estate was sold. In the 1940's American and Canadian forces were stationed here until the end of the war. It now belongs to the Woodchester Trust who are trying to return it to its original state.
According to legend, Sir Rupert de Lansigny, who inherited Spring Park after killing his cousin, once owned the estate. Several locals have reported seeing a headless horseman, believed to be Sir Rupert, near one of the park lakes. A coffin has also been observed hovering above one of the estate's lakes, which possibly belonged to a Dominican friar who killed himself by drowning! More recently, February 2004 and September 2005 saw sightings of a black dog inside the mansion itself which appeared to coincide with the deaths of individuals closely associated with the building.
In 1902 a local vicar saw a strange apparition at the gates to the mansion needless to say he never returned to the building again. A few years later a phantom horseman was also seen on the drive dressed in civil war clothing. But it is the Mansion itself that is the epicentre of the haunting.
As you step in through the front door you find yourself suddenly transported back to the late 1800's, standing amidst what is effectively a Victorian building site. But as soon as you've taken in the amazing sight of fireplaces suspended in mid-air, doorways leading nowhere and the strange undulating floor which is in fact the vaulted ceiling of the cellar below, you have to wonder why it is that the building was never finished. Some of the rooms still have the abandoned workman's tools and equipment. During the building work there were seven deaths six from accidents and a reported murder.
The mansion has its very own chapel lit by two large stained glass windows. One of the more intriguing stories surrounding the chapel involves apparent 'Satanic rituals', which are said to have taken place, during the 1980's. How true these stories are is difficult to say. To the left of the main chapel, beside the corridor, which leads away toward what would have been the servant's quarters; there is a small private chapel, intended for Leigh's personal use. A short arched passageway connects these two rooms. On more than one occasion visitors to the chapel have witnessed the ghost of a small man standing in the doorway. This figure stands gazing up at the two huge ornate stained glass windows, as if concerned for their poor state of repair, as most of the glass panels are now missing or cracked. Guests and visitors have also reported seeing stones and other bits of masonry being thrown across the room.
Moving on from the main chapel we enter a corridor which leads past the smaller chapel, the larder and on to another passage, at right angles to the first. This corridor has been the location of a number of sightings of an unknown 'tall man'. This strange figure has been spotted standing at one end, beside the door that leads to the laundry room. This figure does not simply remain standing in the one area, but has been seen walking along the corridor, which leads to the chapel, although he is never actually seen entering it.

'That's freaky': John Edward is clearly amazed that Gloria Vanderbilt is contacted though him by Marilyn Monroe

'Yes, I did. So she kind of came suddenly into this amazing conversation,' Ms Vanderbilt replied.

But it is medium Mr Edward's response that tellingly highlights how unusual a message from the late pop icon is. 'For me, I get some pop cultural references,' he said.

'So I was doing a reading for somebody who's not a known figure and I'm seeing Marilyn Monroe. So I would say who's Marilyn? They would say, that's my aunt. That's my grandmother. Not Marilyn Monroe. So it's kind of a little bit -- it's freaky for -- it's freaky...'

'I was a friend of hers,' explains New York local Ms Vanderbilt. 'I've always felt the whole world identifies in some way with her, which is why she's such an incredible - I mean, she's with us today, and we all have things in us that we identify with her and relate to her. And I felt very close to her for many reasons.'

Mr Cooper, for his part, sees the irony in the strange revelation. 'I find it interesting that you freaked out John Edward.'

The psychic also appeared to contact Mr Cooper's father who had a 200-acre farm in Mississippi.

Mr Cooper said that the conversation - and Mr Edward's correct knowledge of his past - 'really caught me by surprise... I don't think I ever told anybody that anywhere.'

Ms Vanderbilt, who said she is 'somewhat psychic,' is clearly at odds with her son's opinions on the subject.

The sceptical show host admitted that 'I'm still not sure I'm a believer,' although Ms Vanderbilt has a fan in the medium.

'I think we all have the [psychic] ability,' Mr Edward told the intrigued mother and doubtful son.